Reasoned Opinions In An Unreasoned Time

The Constitution

It is common to hear that the United States is a Democracy; while we have enshrined elements of the Democracy in our Constitution, we are not a Democracy and that is a very good thing. The Framers designed a Federal Republic in order to protect the individual from the government as well as the unchecked majority that exists in a pure Democracy. In a pure democracy majority rules and there is little to protect the individual; the end. A democracy, in its most simple form, takes only a simple majority opinion to make the rules, and fully subjugate the minority opinion to their will regardless of what it may be. As stated HERE:

[A Democracy is] Rule by the omnipotent majority. In a democracy, an individual, and any group of individuals composing any minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of the majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.

Whereas,

A republic is similar to a representative democracy except it has a written constitution of basic rights that protect the minority from being completely unrepresented or overridden by the majority.

These are extremely important differences between the two systems of government, and it is irresponsible to be unaware of the differences. There is a very good video here, The American Form of Government. This not only explains why the United States is a Republic instead of a Democracy. It also delves into the other forms of government that exist, and rethinks the classifications of common forms of government.

I cringe when I hear politicians make comments about “our democracy” or something similar. It shows either ignorance, stupidity, or laziness. I imagine that the majority of people in the United States are unaware of the actual type of government under which they live.